Goat: Commune

Swedish psych collective in fine, freaky form.

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Commune follows Goat’s acclaimed 2012 debut World Music, and in no way sees its masked, robed members – who claim to come from a Swedish village with a history of black magic – calming down.

The propulsive grooves, Eastern guitar flourishes, trancey rhythms suggesting techno played by ancient tribespeople – all are present and correct. It’s like a superjam at Womad with a San Francisco psych band, krautrockers and 70s funkadelics. If you want a soundtrack to dance to, but can’t stand modern dance music, this should do it.

Goatchild sounds like an invocation for a ritual involving, well, goats. It’s a riot of wah-wah and fuzz, climaxing with rhythmic and solo extemporisation. Gathering Of Ancient Tribes, with its shouty female vocals, could be Siouxsie moonlighting with the Grateful Dead. Commune may seem a little pat, a compendium of psychedelic, exotic and ethnic sounds, but it makes for a handy compilation. Maybe they should call it Now That’s What I Call World Music 2.

Paul Lester

Paul Lester is the editor of Record Collector. He began freelancing for Melody Maker in the late 80s, and was later made Features Editor. He was a member of the team that launched Uncut Magazine, where he became Deputy Editor. In 2006 he went freelance again and has written for The Guardian, The Times, the Sunday Times, the Telegraph, Classic Rock, Q and the Jewish Chronicle. He has also written books on Oasis, Blur, Pulp, Bjork, The Verve, Gang Of Four, Wire, Lady Gaga, Robbie Williams, the Spice Girls, and Pink.